Peachesbackwards
Member
One of my e-commerce stores that I own is www.2008software.com which had a high ranking for a few keyword phrases. Recently I found that this site and possibly other e-commerce stores I own as well basically dropped off Google's high indexing for one of the phrases because another web site, whoisdomaintools.com somehow was able to make this a page for their website whois.domaintools.com/2008software.com shown exactly and Google indexed this site instead with my exact desciption, headlines, etc. The bottom line is can someone legally use your registered domain name as part of their site? If not, would you advise suing them and/or blogging about them (I have a blog with over 200,000 monthly readers)?
I sent these jerks a strongly worded email and they sent me some form letter back that didn't address anything and to me is their way of saying F U to me. Am I off based here or should I escalate this to another level, including putting this in my blog? I welcome your opinion.
Here's a copy of their form letter for those interested which did not address my complaint of them using my domain name for what I believe illegally by putting it in theirs.
Hello Sir:
Thank you for your inquiry.
All the information we display on our website is legally-mandated, public information and easily obtainable by anyone from the web. DomainTools is only a third party displaying this information. Historical/cached information is never deleted from the world wide web.
WHOIS services provide public access to data on registered domain names, which currently includes contact information for Registered Name Holders. The extent of registration data collected at the time of registration of a domain name, and the ways such data can be accessed, are specified in agreements established by ICANN for domain names registered in generic top-level domains (gTLDs). For example, ICANN requires accredited registrars to collect and provide free public access to the name of the registered domain name and its nameservers and registrar, the date the domain was created and when its registration expires, and the contact information for the Registered Name Holder, the technical contact, and the administrative contact.
It is unfortunate that your Registrar consultant did not explain to you in detail the privatization options that are available to everyone, when they first register a domain on the world wide web. This would have prevented any record that would potentially contain personal information, from ever having been created. We understand that the records we display may contain personal data, however WE are not responsible for that record having been created.
Going forward you can contact the ICANN registrar listed on your record for information regarding privatization of your whois record. The ICANN registrar may be able to assist you in changing or swapping unlisted numbers or other private contact information.
In addition, you can use our History Block service at http://www.domaintools.com/products/history-block.html to purchase temporary WHOIS history record privacy. This is not an attempt to receive payment from you as this is only a temporary solution. It will not delete the record from existence as this service will only prevent that information from being accessed on our site.
Information on how to prevent your images from accompanying the WHOIS record can be found at the following URL:
http://www.domaintools.com/webmasters/surveybot.php
Our position will not change until advised t do so by our own counsel.
Regards,
DomainTools Client Support
I sent these jerks a strongly worded email and they sent me some form letter back that didn't address anything and to me is their way of saying F U to me. Am I off based here or should I escalate this to another level, including putting this in my blog? I welcome your opinion.
Here's a copy of their form letter for those interested which did not address my complaint of them using my domain name for what I believe illegally by putting it in theirs.
Hello Sir:
Thank you for your inquiry.
All the information we display on our website is legally-mandated, public information and easily obtainable by anyone from the web. DomainTools is only a third party displaying this information. Historical/cached information is never deleted from the world wide web.
WHOIS services provide public access to data on registered domain names, which currently includes contact information for Registered Name Holders. The extent of registration data collected at the time of registration of a domain name, and the ways such data can be accessed, are specified in agreements established by ICANN for domain names registered in generic top-level domains (gTLDs). For example, ICANN requires accredited registrars to collect and provide free public access to the name of the registered domain name and its nameservers and registrar, the date the domain was created and when its registration expires, and the contact information for the Registered Name Holder, the technical contact, and the administrative contact.
It is unfortunate that your Registrar consultant did not explain to you in detail the privatization options that are available to everyone, when they first register a domain on the world wide web. This would have prevented any record that would potentially contain personal information, from ever having been created. We understand that the records we display may contain personal data, however WE are not responsible for that record having been created.
Going forward you can contact the ICANN registrar listed on your record for information regarding privatization of your whois record. The ICANN registrar may be able to assist you in changing or swapping unlisted numbers or other private contact information.
In addition, you can use our History Block service at http://www.domaintools.com/products/history-block.html to purchase temporary WHOIS history record privacy. This is not an attempt to receive payment from you as this is only a temporary solution. It will not delete the record from existence as this service will only prevent that information from being accessed on our site.
Information on how to prevent your images from accompanying the WHOIS record can be found at the following URL:
http://www.domaintools.com/webmasters/surveybot.php
Our position will not change until advised t do so by our own counsel.
Regards,
DomainTools Client Support
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